


You're you, that's what matters.

by ghostlyghouls



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Genderfluid Lance (Voltron), Implied Dysphoria, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, Trans Keith (Voltron), mlm author
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-16
Updated: 2017-02-16
Packaged: 2018-09-24 20:56:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9786758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostlyghouls/pseuds/ghostlyghouls
Summary: Lance hears Keith crying in his room late at night and decides to find out why.





	

**Author's Note:**

> so uh i wrote this to cope n to try n keep my over 6 months self harm free streak (im @starryklunks on tumblr) also if u kno of any good, happy, not transphobic trans fics abt keith (or lance or hunk) pls send them my way !!!! (NO sh/aladin) also tell me if u want me to write more trans fics for voltron bc i am always up for trans stuff

****

Lance was walking down the freezing corridor one night, after his midnight snack, going back to his loving, warm bed. He had forgot to put his blue lion slippers on, so every time the balls of his feet hit the cool ground, he shivered. _God, someone should really do something about the castle’s hearting at night, it is freezing_ , Lance thought, continuing down the path to his room.

He sighed, this castle is _way_ too big for just _seven_ people to live in. Even if there was more, it was still a huge castle. Making his way down the corridor, he was getting close to his room with every step, but also closer to Keith’s room. Gradually, Lance started to hear faint sounds. Confused, Lance picked up the pace, and the noises got louder, and more understandable to what they were.

Crying.

 _What?_ Lance thought, _why is someone crying, who even was it?_ He had just got to Keith’s door, and the sobbing was definitely coming from there. _Why was Mullet Man crying?_ He pushed his hand to the door, taking a second to wonder if he should enter. He did.

There Keith was, curled up on his bed, back against the wall. Crying. No, not crying, but more like, _ugly sobbing._ He was also clutching his left arm, near the wrist, which Lance thought was odd. Stepping from one foot to the other on one spot, Lance wanted to see what was wrong but didn’t know what to do. He panicked, and went and sat on the bed, letting Keith know he was here.

Keith bolted up, eyes wide. Hand, still in a deadly grab, on his arm. He stares at Lance, and just keeps staring. A few seconds pass, before Keith finally looks away, and he climbs under his covers.

“Go away.” The slightly smaller boy mumbled from under the covers, which was now pulled right over his whole self.

“I-“ Lance tried to think of something to say. “Keith, uh, hey, bud. Um, what’s wrong?” He was terrible at comforting people that he wasn’t really _super_ close to. He and Keith had only recently started a friendship, which had been going pretty great, in all honesty! Lance thought Keith was a rad guy.

“Go away, Lance”

“Keith…” Lance replied softly, rubbing Keith’s back slowly.

There was a silence, and Keith shuffled a bit, but he was still fully under the cover. Lance let out a shaky breath. He had no clue how to comfort Keith, they was freshly friends, not like him and Hunk or Pidge, how was he to do this? He wanted Keith to feel better and be happy, but how? Lance was stuck in the mud for how he was going to comfort him.

“Please…” Keith’s voice was hoarse, and he sniffed. “Just, please…” He sniffed again and then coughed. The shape of him through the cover moved, and he could see his face now. After a minute, Keith sat up, arms wrapped around his chest, which seemed to be keeping the cover up to his chest.

“Keith, I want to help, please, what’s wrong?”

“Lance, I’m sorry but you can’t help, no one can.”

He sniffed again, and wiped his eyes and nose with his sleeve. Lance looked around the room and spotted some tissues, and got up to get them, to give them to Keith.

“W-why do you care?” Keith said, wiping his face with the tissues Lance gave him.

“Because, we’re friends!” Lance said. “Well… at least I thought…” he trailed off.

“Oh, yeah… We-“ He hiccupped “we are friends. I just, I’m not worth your time, that’s all”

“Rubbish! All my friends are worth my time, so, therefore, _you’re_ worth my time, Keith”

Keith opened his mouth, as if to say something, but instead he started crying again. Lance scooted closer, his hand resting on the boy’s knee.

“Shhhh, shhhh, hey… It’s okay, crying’s okay, it’s actually good, ya know. It lets it all out, it feels nice, after, because you’ve let them out, instead of holding it in and feeling terrible!” He rambled on, not that Keith minded, it actually made him smile a tiny bit.

“Thanks, Lance.”

“Hey, no problem! What’re friends for, huh?” Lance smiled his infectious smile, and Keith smiled too. The dark haired boy leaned closer, resting his head on the other boy’s shoulder, trying to even his breath from crying. Lance started to rub his back again, slowly. They sat there, in comfortable silence for a bit, just enjoying each other’s company.

“Hey, Keith, you don’t have to if you don’t want to, but do you wanna talk about what made you upset?” Lance said into Keith’s black hair, where his head was resting. Keith lifted his head and looked Lance in the eye, then quickly looked down at his left arm that he’d still been holding. The tears started coming back and Lance immediately regretted asking so soon.

“H-hey, hey, you don’t have to.” Lance quickly said.

“I can trust you?” Keith was now looking directly into his eyes, not blinking.

“I-wha-“

“I can trust you, right?” He said again, still not blinking.

“Yeah! Yeah of course, hey… Keith, you- you know that you can talk to me about anything, right? I pride myself on being very open minded, ya know” It sounded like he was bragging, but really he just wanted Keith to know that he was here for him, for anything he needs.

“Very open minded.” Keith repeated in a monotone voice. He looked down at himself again.

“Uh, yeah. That’s what I said, and it’s true. Keith, buddy, what’s wrong?” He leaned closer, trying to look into Keith’s eyes.

Keith looked back up, and didn’t say anything, just stared. His puffy red eyes still fully of tears, so when he blinked, they rolled down his face. Lance hated this, he hated seeing people in pain, especially his friends.

“Lance, I’m- I-I’m…” He took a shaky breath, and almost took his hand off his arm to steady himself, but didn’t. That was really starting to bug Lance. _What was he hiding on his arm?_ Lance thought.

“Hey, take your time, it’s all cool. Okay?”

“Y-yeah…”

Lance touched the hand that had a death grip on his left arm, and expected Keith to yank himself away, but he didn’t. He just, sat there. Looking at his hand which was now on him own hand. Carefully and slowly, Lance lifted the Keith’s hand from the place which he was hiding.

**_Blood._ **

Keith had hurt himself, he thinks it was with his own fingernails, there was messy lines of dried up blood on this wrist area. Lance was shaking.

“Oh god, oh, oh… _Keith_.” He didn’t know what to do, he’d never faced this before, sure, he’s heard of it, but it’s never happened to him before. He didn’t have any clue on how to help, so he would be stuck improvising. _Again_.

“I’m sorry.”

“No- _What_?”

“I’m sorry…”

“No, gosh, _no_ , don’t be sorry. At least, not to me, to yourself? Uh, just, just- don’t be sorry. Okay? Everything will be okay” He muttered a _Jesus_ under his breath, he really didn’t know what to do. He got up and motioned for Keith to come with him, and went to the bathroom. He sat Keith down on the toilet lid, and got a towel and wet it. He needed to clean the wound.

Keith hissed at the contact of the wet towel to his cuts. Lance patted his knee and said a few _‘it’s gonna be okay’s’._ Keith believed him. Once he cleaned the wound, and wrapped it up, he sat on the cool bathroom floor. Keith’s head was lowered in shame. The taller boy moved closer, and patted the shorter one’s knee.

“Come.” He smiled.

Keith followed him back to Keith’s own room, back on the bed, where Lance insisted he sit in between his legs with his back against his chest. So he did. They stayed like that in silence for a good, say, half an hour? Lance thought. Just as Lance thought Keith was falling asleep, he’d said something very quietly.

“What? I didn’t quite catch that?”

“I’m a trans boy.”

_Oh._

**_OH._ **

“Oh.”  _Good one, Lance. Just say ‘oh’, oh yeah, that’s a real good response._

Keith became fidgety, he turned so they was face to face. He looked terrified. His eyes searching his, trying to figure out what he meant.

“I- _Keith_.” He said quickly before he could think he thought any differently of him. “You’re _you_ , and that’s what matters. Still Keith. Still a _boy_. _You_.” 

And, cue the waterworks. Keith slumped against him again, crying, but it was different from his cries earlier. This was… Happy? Relief?

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,” Keith kept repeating those two words over and over again, hardly taking any breaths in between. Lance kept gently rubbing his back.

“Can, uh, I know you lot already call me a boy and Keith, but, like, now you _know_ , could you, uh… Never mind, it’s dumb”

“No, no, it’s probably not dumb. Lemme guess, you want me to say a sentence using your name and pronouns?” He smiled at Keith, and he beamed at him, and Lance swore he’d just died and gone to heaven.

“Yeah! Could you? Please”

“Hell yeah of course!” Lance started, “Keith, did you know that you’re a really rad guy? Like, I just look at you and go ‘wow he’s really cool’, ya know? Like, you’re very talented and an overall handsome boy.”

Keith blushed.

“Oh, come on, Lance, you don’t really mean that.”

Lance gasped dramatically. “How _dare_ you say that!? I speak only the truth, as a truther, I cannot say lies.” Keith laughed.

“A truther, huh?”

“Yes, a truther” He said proudly and stuck his tongue out at him, wrapping his arms around Keith’s waist.

“Well, truther, tell me a truth about you”

“Ah, I can do that, I’m genderfluid, did you know?”

“I- wha… I, you-you didn’t have to tell me something personal? I- I just thought you’d say something we all knew, lik-“

“Keith, calm down, I wanted to tell you. Honestly, I did.” He smiled, and tightened his arms around the others waist, pulling him into a hug.  “Hunk and Pidge know as well.”

“Okay, I just wanted to make sure, because I came out a bit ago, I wanted to make sure.”

“Ah, yeah. Thank you.”

“No problem, hey, what’re your pronouns by the way? I don’t wanna ever misgender you.”

“Oh, well I use he and they pronouns, but right now it’s he, so you’re cool.” He shrugged, and leaned his head on Keith’s shoulder, some of his hair tickling his nose, but he didn’t move.

“Lance, you’re an amazing boy, and when you’re a person, you’re an amazing person. Thank you for being you, you’re very talented and also very attractive.”

Lance blushed.

“Thank you” he breathed out, snuggling closer to Keith, as Keith wrapped his arms around him tighter. They stayed like that for a while, as they started to drift off to sleep, their noses touching, breathing in sync. _Content_. Happy that they had each other.

 

 

 


End file.
